Within The Ash

Chapter 23

The next day had came and I made my way into town at exactly mid night.

I limped through the streets as casually as I could and ignored the pain that ravaged my body with every breath I took.

My face still had bits of dried blood and the wound from the blade was beginning to scab over just slightly.

I got strange looks but I refused to acknowledge them and held my head higher as they stared. Even through my pain I wanted to show people that I was not weak.

I am a lot of things but weak is not one of them.

I heard the sounds of many people and saw light orange hues over the tops of the houses.

Were they seriously carrying out an execution this late at night.

I thought to myself as I followed the smell of fire to the center of the town.

I saw a crowd of people huddled together and it seemed like the crowed wrapped around something or someone in the middle.

They all chanted the incriminating words that everybody feared to be called.

"Witch witch witch!!! Burn witch burn!" They all chanted at the top of their lungs.

I ran through the crowd and eventually made my way to the front to see the fragile body of an old women who stood tied to a wooden steak that stuck out of the ground.

At her feet was wood and coal with black roses thrown at her feet.

The people took turns walking up to her and spitting at her.

I looked in horror as the women lifted her head with pride revealing her face.

It was the women who had read my palms.

Somebody had to of seen or heard her reading me.

Her face was stained with tears as the hues of fire reflected from her wrinkled face.

The king of the land walked over to the pit she was tied over and poured lighter fluid all over her and the wood at her feet.

He turned to the crowed and chanted words in Latin before turning to her and casting his spit at her face.

Before he lit the fluid her eyes met mine and she yelled her last words that I knew were directed towards me.

"Run, all ye weary souls, let not the evil of this dirt burden thy heart but instead strengthen thy soul for the wrath of man cannot kill thou energy, for the soul lives through many body's to come"

Her words cut deep into my soul and inspired me.

Before he lit the fluid I held my hand to my chest and looked her in the eyes.

Her eyes held vast raging oceans of courage and strength of many life times past and many to still occur.

My mother once told me the eyes were portals to the soul and now I fully understand what she meant.

The soul of the women who's flesh burned before my eyes held such courage and passion.

She held rivers of grace and magic that flowed into vast oceans of storms and raging waves that held no mercy.

Such beauty and majestic grace flew with black smoke right before my eyes into the clear starry night above.

After her body was nothing but ash the people stayed where they were and lingered for a bit chatting and talking as if what had just happened wasn't cruel.

She never told me her name but for some reason the name Sia kept repeating over and over in my mind.

I guess that will be her name as long as I keep her memory with me.

Through the crowed of people I saw the face of Violet. She laughed and chattered with a group of other girls on the other side of the street but her smiles were fake as so as her laughs.

She was visibly upset and I could see right through her fake expressions of joy.

I walked up to her and stood next to her without her knowing.

She didn't see me and kept talking but my blank expression caused the 3 girls she spoke with to grow weary and they stopped talking and only looked around awkwardly.

Violet turned around and rolled her eyes like she always did.

"God you again?, what the fuck happened to you, a bunch of cats attack you for a can of tuna or something?"

I rolled my eyes like she does to me and only responded with a cold no.

"Look I'm not happy about this either, Sia was a talented phychic" I cut her off and placed my hand over her mouth.

"What the fuck are you doing, stop talking about that shit, you do know they will execute you in the same exact way they did her" I said in a serious tone.

She grabbed my arm and threw it away from her mouth with force.

"I don't give a fuck, let the world fucking know, IM A WITCH!!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Everybody who saw the death of Sia quickly turned their heads and focused their attention on both of us with wide eyes.

"Thanks a lot, you just got us fucking killed" I said as I grabbed her arm and ran across the town away from the mob that quickly followed.

We ran into the ally where Sia once obviously lived and thankfully nothing was touched so we know she wasn't captured in this spot.

I turned my attention to Violent who stood as calm as could be, leaning against the brick wall.

"Just let them kill me" she said with bitterness as she sat criss cross on the ground in front of me.

"You know, you are a fucking bitch" I said with coldness as I peeked over the corner to make sure nobody was there listening or walking by.

She leaned her head back and gazed at me with her tired brown eyes and blinked slowly at me before talking lazily.

"Yea, and?"

"You seriously don't care? This could get us both killed Violet"

She rolled her eyes at me again and changed the subject.

"Do you have any cigarettes?"

I reached in my pocket and found a couple but I didn't want to give them.

"I do, but I'm not ready to part with them"

"Wow, how selfish" she said with an uninterested tone.

"Selfish is my middle name I guess" I mocked back.

I heard her stomach growling from where I stood in the corner of the ally. All I did was glance down at her with sympathy.

"Are you hungry?" I asked as I took another peek around the corner.

I could see the rioters from where I stood and it was unsafe to leave the ally.

Violet didn't answer me but instead got up as if she was gonna leave.

"Where do you think your going?" I asked as I grabbed her arm pulling her back in.

"You may want to die tonight but I'm still in favor of living" I said sarcastically as she sat back down with an attitude.

"Give it a few hours and I will head out to get something, until than we both are staying here tonight"